Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) Issue 37
Issue 37 is the thirty-eighth actual issue of Boom! Studios ongoing comic book series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which begins its numbering with Issue 0. It continues to feature the new team of Rangers of Beyond the Grid, which involves the aftermath of the Shattered Grid comic event. It features the death of the Solar Ranger. Synopsis As the death of this entire new universe draws near, each Ranger will be faced with a terrible choice-and one Ranger may be forced to betray everything they believe in. https://shop.boom-studios.com/comics/detail/9304/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-37 Plot On the Splintered Star, the Rangers stand in disbelief and awe that they are on a planetary body covered in raw, unrefined Zeo Crystals. Ari doesn't see what the big deal is as there are other geode planets and bodies in The Void, such as Remi's home on the Amethyst Asteroid. Heckyl explains that Zeo Crystals have immense power and they are standing on a gigantic powder keg. If the Preator gets his hands on this planet, he will have enough energy to wipe out the entire universe or all the universes at once. Cam gets a reading saying the crystals have benign residual energy from the Morphin Grid, with Heckyl chiming in that this means The Void was once a universe connected to the Grid. Cam hypothesizes the Void was severed from it and thrown out from reality. Andros thinks this cosmic event was done by something or someone on purpose. Tanya gets a strong reading of Morphing Energy from the magnetic North Pole. Ari asks how Tanya knows that to be fact and Tanya explains that the Zeo Crysals are what give her the power to become Zeo Ranger II and her morpher is attuned to sense other Zeo Crystals. Tanya then examines Ari's Solarix and believes that it is some kind of ancient morpher, but operates in a manner similar to her Zeonizer by storing energy, but still advanced since it can share its power with other morphers. Remi and Kim wonder why no one has been on this world in ages and why it isn't guarded if the power it has is so dangerous. As they traverse the world, they soon find out that it is perilous to journey across with various wild alien creatures attacking them, dangerous terrain and Mike having a suspicion that they are being led to their destination by someone. After hours of walking, they arrive at the magnetic north pole and ascend to a pillar of light in the distance. As they get closer, Ari can feel her Solarix recharging with power from the Zeo Crystals. The team decides to set up camp for the night to rest, with Mike taking first watch despite Tanya's concern as he hasn't slept in a while. As they drift off to sleep, Mike gets an unwelcome invasion of his mind by the Preator. Mike panics and asks how the Preator is even here, but the villain says he isn't...not quite. Knowing that Mike is weary and suffering survivor's guilt over the loss of his brother, the evil dictator begins to toy with Mike's mental state by telling him that he wants to spare him if he surrenders the Solar Ranger's power to him. Mike sees a very realistic hallucination of his friends all lying dead, slaughtered by the Preator's forces with the Preator sadistically saying that he will ensure that Mike is the only one who survives. Mike is just repeating his failure of surviving, unlike all the others he couldn't save. Mike then sees the corpse of Tanya and cradles her in his arms, crying as the Preator pushes harder mental torment onto him, saying that love saved Mike from ruin but it will not save Tanya. Mike finally breaks down, asking what the Preator wants and he will do anything to keep Tanya and his friends safe. Mike even goes so far as to beg to be killed to spare their lives. The Preator makes a Faustian offer to Mike to spare his comrades if he delivers the Solarix to him. When Mike asks about the inhabitants of the Void, the enraged devil spouts off that they are heretics who deluded themselves with the false hope the Power Rangers gave only to be rewarded with the deaths they deserved. If anything, the Power Rangers are to blame for their suffering as the residents of this dimension would have gladly accepted death if not for the "lies" they told them about hope. He changes the offer saying Tanya will be spared and brought not as a prisoner, but as a princess of the Crimson Horde and he will offer them all safe passage back home. The Preator coerces Mike by saying the young man has seen what powers he has at his disposal, so it would be of little use to defy him since he can wipe out entire planets. Mike has until the fast approaching dawn to accept his offer, or he will be the only one who lives. Mike struggles and is sobbing in tears but as the sun's light emerges on the horizon, he steals the Solarix. As Ari wakes up, she sees that the Solarix is no longer in her morpher and shouts that fact loud enough that it wakes everyone else up. She breaks down crying as Remi comforts her, saying that she thought she could trust her friends but now they are powerless. Andros accuses Remi, having overheard the conversation she had with Karone about feeling left out and thinking in an act of selfishness, she stole the Solarix to keep Ari with her instead of her friend fulfilling her destiny to be a Power Ranger. Remi then rudely mocks and accuses Kim, saying she is a "half-tamed cutthroat" whose shady past makes her a more likely suspect. Heckyl gets angry and defends Kim, calling Remi a "worm ridden stray". Mike, who is the actual culprit, escalates the argument amongst them by accusing Heckyl and calling out his past about how he doomed Sentai 6 twice. Cam is quick to point out that Mike has just as much blood on his hands. Ari then tries to calm everyone down, pleading for them to stop as she had waited for them for so long to be a Ranger. Things get uglier as Remi then accuses Andros, as he has his sister Karone to protect, something to cherish. The Rangers turn on Andros and begin to suspect he is the thief as he is the most suspicious out of all of them. (Not helped by Mike being the Preator's willing pawn and escalating the argument further to avoid suspicion). The fight comes to a head when Remi tries to defend Ari from Andros by pulling out a gun and despite Ari's pleas, opens fire. Andros dodges the shot and the projectile goes right through Ari's chest, much to Remi's horror. All the Rangers are too busy fighting each other to take notice as Remi holds Ari in her arms, who slowly fades away and dies. As Ari's spirit leaves her body, she is dragged down into the blackness and emerges in a white space...with the Preator waiting to place her in his clutches! "Hello, Ellarien....Hello, SOLAR RANGER." To be continued..... Covers Mighty-Morphin-Power-Rangers-37-2-600x922.jpg MMPR_37-3.jpg Mighty-Morphin-Power-Rangers-37-4-600x922.jpg Errors *''to be added'' Notes *'25th Anniversary cover reference: ' Dimensions in Danger *This issue features no backup story, instead having more ads for promoting other Boom! Studios comics. *The breakdown of the Promethea team into an argument and fight is unsurprising, as all of them are Rangers with problems as stated by Remi. The Preator's first mental attack back in Issue 34 was to determine who was the weakest mentally, which proved to be Mike, having shown signs of PTSD and survivors guilt at the loss of his brother Leo and the war with Lord Drakkon having a lasting negative effect on his mind. Thus, the Preator began projecting horrific dreams of people Mike cares about like Tanya dying in agony into Mike's mind to eventually break him so he would submit to his demands.